National Purebred Dog Day

Did you know that there are more panda bears in the world than there are Skye Terriers?

I'm asking for the help of every purebred dog owner & enthusiast with this project.  Please share the link with ten of your friends and ask them to do the same.  Put it up on your Facebook page; post it on your clubs' pages.  Share with your hunting buddies because they too are impacted by animal laws, by breed specific legislation, and by the animal rights movement to restrict dog breeding.  Whether their dogs are purebreds purchased from an ethical breeder, adopted from a shelter, or re-homed from breed rescue, we are all in the fight of our lives to save our breeds and to preserve our right to own the dogs of our choice.

Will this save the world?  No.  But if having a national day recognizing purebred dogs and their contributions to the world; if having a website to help give voice to us as purebred dog owners & lovers, maybe it's a little start. I know I am tired of not having a voice.

In an effort to promote & celebrate purebred dogs, we hope to have this video go viral and to have a movement that sweeps the nation, but it can only do so with your help.

Please watch the video and offer your support at National Purebred Dog Day.

We all thank you.

Jetty - DM Fast Frigate, Part 1

Jetty, Age 6 wks

Jetty was a Feather son. As white as his mother was, Jetty was that black.  Like his mother, he was gorgeous and graceful.  Sadly, his testicles did not descend. At 3 months of age, it was time to find Jetty a loving pet home, an appropriate home for a greyhound puppy.

Due to the wonders of the internet, a home was found for Jet in Michigan.  The people had great references and sounded perfect, so arrangements were made for Jetty to go & live with them.

I should have known better...  The relationship between us started off with a disagreement over castrating the boy prior to his going there.  Greyhound puppies as a large breed should not be castrated before their growth plates close, which is usually around 13-14 months of age.  This is something in which I firmly believe as early castration leads to excessive bone growth and it has been linked to some other health issues such as incontinence. But, the home sounded so good for the boy...  I went against my gut and judgment and had the boy castrated prior to his trip to Michigan.

Gizmo the Cat & Jet

Please note that castration for a bilateral cryptorchid is not an easy surgery.  The vet has to go in through the abdominal cavity to find the hidden testicles and, in Jet's case, they were way up by the bladder. Anyway, we had him castrated and about a week later, he developed a urinary tract infection (UTI).  He was put on antibiotics and arrangements were made to transport him to Michigan.

Laurel Drew & I transported the boy part of the way to his new home in Michigan.  We had him in a crate with a pad. He was such a good boy!  He never whined, never messed... He was so good.  We met up with the next person (name now forgotten) in what we call a GUR (Greyhound Run). Along the way, Adrienne Breummer in St. Charles, Missouri, had agreed to house him until he could meet up with the next transporter on his way.  Jet made such an impression on Adrienne, she dropped us a line asking to have him if the new home didn't work out for any reason.  Uhm...  OK...  but I don't think he'll be going anywhere...  even so, I saved Adrienne's email.

The transporters kept in touch with us all along the way, giving us updates and telling us how good he was.  Finally, Jet, his medical record, and his medications for the UTI were handed off to his new owners and then she handed him & his medications over to his new owners.

Jet at Adrienne's Home

A couple of weeks later, we got a phone call from the new owners. It seems that Jet was having problems with urinary leaking.  They had taken him to their vet and he told them that Jet's urinary tract and bladder were not properly formed.  What?  I asked my vet, who had neutered him, if there were any problems with his urinary tract and she told me everything was normal. The new vet wanted to do some kind of surgery that was the equivalent of a urostomy! After discussions with the new owners, it was decided that Jet would come home.

On the return trip, Jet again had the chance to stay with Adrienne.  She again asked me if she could keep the boy.  We discussed it and I told her that I could not saddle her with a defective dog, one that would probably leak urine uncontrollably for the rest of his life. We went round & round with Adrienne getting a concession out of me...  I'd let the boy stay there on a trial basis.

(End Part 1)

Lindsay

Lindsay aka Lindsay Party aka Party Girl

Lindsay Party aka Party Girl

Lindsay is the one who started us onto the path of Greyhound ownership.  She was our First...  She was the original Dyno-Mutt....  She was and still is our inspiration.

Lindsay was a retired racing greyhound that we adopted from Recycled Racers in Denver, Colorado.  She was a brindle and the color of buttermilk with burnt toast stripes.  A beauty, she was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1991, a great-granddaughter of the incredible Downing, who is in the NGA Hall of Fame.  Her sire was the noted race dog, Killer Diller, whose littermates include: Uncle Albert, Aggie Mae, and Paperback Rider.  They were all top winning dogs.  Lindsay ran on the Southern Colorado circuit.  All the tracks where she ran have been closed - Pueblo and Colorado Springs.  She raced for the Robert Feathers kennel and she ran, placing consistently in the money, until her retirement in 1995, which is when we got her.

Lindsay was a dog that needed a job.  She wasn't happy as a retiree and she'd beat up on the other dogs.  So, we gave her a job, lure coursing.  Lindsay carried on the tradition of being a great running dog in lure coursing.  And, in short order, she achieved her field championships in both American Kennel Club (AKC) & American Sighthound Field Asso. (ASFA) events.  One of the funniest things I ever saw that involved Lindsay was when the judge decided to sit directly behind her at the start of her first Junior Courser (JC) run.  I no longer remember his name.

The judge decided to judge the JC runs by plopping a lawn chair directly behind the dogs at the start. When Lindsay came to the line, several people advised him, including me, that he really didn't want to sit there behind a greyhound.  But, he told us in no uncertain terms, "I know what I'm doing."  OK....

Lindsay at the 1997 ASFA I.I. in Pescadero, CA

When the hunt-master cried "Tally Ho!", as the slip lead fell away from her neck, Lindsay dug in with those powerful hind legs and sprinted off the line.  With that very powerful first thrust of the hind legs, she dug in and kicked up a rooster tail of rocks, dirt, cactus....  all of which flew back into the judge's face.  All I could hear at the line were thuds followed by, "Ow!  Ouch!  Damn!"  I still laugh and smirk.  Somehow, I think the judge learned something new that day - never sit behind a greyhound at the start.

Lindsay loved to run.  She loved to compete. We took her to a lure course held in Phoenix at the Estrella Mountain Park by the Desert Fun Bunch.  The day was December 7th.... Pearl Harbor Day.  

Lindsay won the Open Stakes and got to run for Best of Breed with a large, brindle dog named Cabo.  In the Best of Breed runoff against Cabo, Lindsay broke a metatarsal bone in her hind leg.  She never stopped running.  She hiked her leg up and finished the run, winning BOB.  We didn't even realize that there was a problem.  That night, she ate her dinner, we walked her and she never gimped.  At least, not until the next morning, which is when she developed a bit of a hitch in her git-along.  We pulled her from the competition and drove home to Albuquerque.  Two days later, she had surgery to fix the break.  The vet said she had to be kept quiet for at least 6 weeks, to allow the bone to properly knit. So, even tho' it wasn't allowed, I snuck her into my office at work for the next 4 weeks and she slept the day under my desk.  My co-workers absolutely loved her and she got a bit pudgy while working there.

Lindsay Flying in Estrella Mtn Park

After Pop died in 1999, my mom came to live with Rob & I.  On the saddest weekend in my life, November 6-8, 2003, we lost Lindsay the evening of Nov 6 and my mom the night of Nov 7.  We like to think that Lindsay died before mom so she could show her the way to heaven.  Mom died late the night of Nov 7th.  On Nov 8th, there was a local lure course and I went, not to run dogs, but to be among friends in my time of sorrow. I needed to be around people and their dogs.  I needed to be among the living.  It had been a rough, preceding 10 days during my mom's short, but deadly, illness.  During the lunch break, I looked up and I swear I saw Lindsay running around the far corner and down the backstretch.  As she stretched out, she disappeared from view.   I think she was telling me that she's OK and that she helped mom across the Rainbow Bridge.

In truth, a year or two later, Lindsay came to me in a dream.  In it, she was running in front of a big, black dog.  Soon, as they went around the near turn, the two of them ran across a bridge and disappeared into the mists.  The name "Cal" was stuck in my mind and the next day, I called an acquaintance of mine in Tulsa.  I asked her, "Teddi...  do you know a big, black dog named "Cal"?  If so, I think he just died."  Teddi lost it and broke down in tears.  Little did I know that a short time prior to this, she had adopted a retired stud dogs, Iruska Excalibur, a big black dog that she called "Cal".  He had died the day of my dream.  I told her of the dream and she was comforted.

Lindsay had found herself a job even after crossing over.  Her job is to escort people and dogs across the Rainbow Bridge, into heaven's fields.  That's our Party Girl.